


Verano, 1966

by benny_the_jet



Category: The Sandlot (1993)
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:30:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9110701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benny_the_jet/pseuds/benny_the_jet
Summary: There’s only one night game a year at the sandlot. This year there’s two. The first, is the annual fourth of July game. The second is in honour of Yeah-Yeah.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I gave a first name to 'Phillips', the little league rich kid from the movie, for those of you wondering who the hell Danny is.

Summer, 1966 

 

Benny and Scotty are repairing a loose section of boards in the old treehouse. In actuality, Scotty is doing most of the repairing while Benny hands him tools. Years of imagining and building increasingly complex contraptions has given Scotty a handy streak. Years of being roped into fixing things around the the house by his father has left Benny with a distaste for construction. 

 

They don’t really need to be doing this, hammering nails and sweating on a sultry Friday night, repairing a now seldom-used treehouse. They can’t stand up straight without hitting the ceiling anymore.

 

Benny is quiet today. He looks like he didn’t sleep well the night before, yawning and rubbing the circles under his eyes. He’s fidgeting, tapping a nail against the floor, and Scotty sees him open his mouth a few times like he’s going to say something. Scotty waits patiently for a while, but Benny never shares much. Maybe he’ll never say anything if Scott doesn’t prompt him. 

 

“What’s wrong, Benny?”

 

Benny looks up from where he’s been distractedly scratching a groove into the floor they’re trying fix. He’s silent for a few seconds more, looking at Scotty but not looking  _ at  _ him, like he’s imagining a thousand different scenarios and Scott just happens to be there. 

 

“Smalls, you ever met someone that’s… a little different? Like, bats for the other team?  _ Mariposón _ ? ” Benny has this guarded, intense look on his face, and Scotty feels like he’s being tested. The hand that's gripping the nail is shaking a tiny bit. Scotty shakes his head, mystified. Sometimes he thinks he’ll never know quite as much about baseball as the other guys, but then again, this doesn’t feel like a question about baseball. Benny purses his lip and then appears to take the conversation in a completely different direction 

 

“Yeah-Yeah’s going away. Moving. Sort of.”  It seemed to be one of them every year, Scotty thinks as his stomach drops. Another friend, gone. 

 

“Whaddaya mean, ‘sort of’?” 

 

Benny sighs and chucks the nail aside. 

 

“His parents are sending him to military school in Pasadena. Whole family’s moving out there, it’s a big fuckin’ deal.”

 

“Why the hell would they send Yeah-Yeah to military school? What’d he do this time?” Yeah-Yeah runs into trouble about as much as the rest of them do, which is maybe a little more than they should, but Scotty can’t think of anything outstandingly terrible they had done, lately. 

 

Benny stares out the window and tells him, “I don’t know. Guess they just decided some old fashioned military whoop-ass would be good for him.” 

 

“Well, when does he have to go?” 

 

“Next week, soon as the school year starts.” 

 

“That sucks.  _ Ow- _ ” Scott smashes his finger with the hammer. “We oughta throw a party for him or somethin’” 

 

“Hmm,” Benny murmurs. Scott realizes he’s lost him, again. Benny’s in an introspective mood tonight. While Benny fidgets and stares out the window restlessly, Scotty works quietly at the floorboards until long after dark, pondering Yeah-Yeah’s fate. He couldn’t imagine Yeah-Yeah and his big mouth (and bigger attitude) going down well at a military school.  

  
  


***

 

_ “Benny,” a voice hisses right beside his ear. Benny flings away the bed sheets. He flails awake so hard he nearly knocks heads with Yeah-Yeah, who is- _

 

_“Qué estás - I - the hell are you doin’ here, Yeah-Yeah?! Ay dios mío,_ _it’s the middle of the night!” Yeah-Yeah shrinks back._

 

_ Benny is awake enough now to see that Yeah-Yeah’s in trouble. The guy is shaking, out of breath, looking like something chased him here. _

 

_ “Yeah, yeah, your sister let me in. Sorry, Benny. I-” his voice cracks. Christ, he looks like he’s gonna cry, right now, in Benny’s bedroom at one-thirty in the morning. Benny swings his legs over the side of the bed and sits on the floor beside Yeah-Yeah.  _

 

_ “Hey, man, what’s-” Lord, now he can see that Yeah-Yeah  _ is  _ crying, so Benny just shuts the hell up and puts his arms around him. Benny can’t think of a time when loud, lewd, lippy Yeah-Yeah had ever completely lost his cool. It’s freaking him out, honestly. He hopes his sister remembered to lock the front door.  _

 

_ “Yeah-Yeah, what’s going on? Are you hurt? Someone tryin’ to hurt you?” Benny asks urgently. Yeah-Yeah shakes his head no. Benny waits. _

 

_ “You gotta talk to me, man. You’re scaring me.” Yeah-Yeah mumbles something into his shoulder. “What?” _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah sits back and glares at him defiantly, “I said, if I tell you, you can’t hate me for it. And you can’t say a word to anyone about it, ever, yeah, yeah?” Benny swears six different ways to silence, and waits for Yeah-Yeah to speak.  _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah doesn’t look at him as the story unwinds. He draws his knees up to his chest and locks his arms together over them. The story isn’t long. Yeah-Yeah, impulsive, carefree Yeah-Yeah, had gone out on a date. With Danny Phillips, from the little league team.  _

 

_ Benny hears this and has more of a problem that Yeah-Yeah was into  _ Danny fucking Phillips  _ than the fact that Danny Phillips is a guy. _

 

_ Benny hears this and only half-listens to Alan McClennan expose the most vulnerable parts of himself.  _ Huh,  _ Benny thinks rather calmly, in the back of his mind,  _ I’m not the only one after all. 

 

_ He can’t believe how stupid the two of them were in the first place. Yeah-Yeah and Danny had snuck behind a tent at the summer carnival to, uh- “well, uh, yeah, yeah we were making out and stuff I guess,” he grimaces, “but the thing is, my sister was looking for me and she saw us head back there and-and she saw. And told. Everybody, basically. My whole family was there. So my parents went completely apeshit and we’re moving to Pasadena to start over and I’m getting sent to military school so they can beat the gay out of me, I guess.”  Yeah-Yeah sniffs and Benny hands him a clean-ish tissue off the floor. “I was gonna go to Squints’ place but...”  he trails off, glancing sidelong at Benny, waiting for a reaction. Benny had never quite got how he had ended up as fearless leader of their little gang. He just tried to keep up when the guys sprang shit like this on him, like he would somehow know what the hell to do about it.  _

 

_ Benny sighs and leans his shoulder into Yeah-Yeah’s. “Why you gotta be such a moron, Yeah-Yeah? At the carnival, really? With all those people around?” _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah is quick to tell him where to shove it.  _

 

_ “Naw, naw, man, you never get to live this one down. Danny Phillips called us all a disgrace to baseball when we were twelve and now you  _ like him _.”  _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah groans and covers his face with his hands, trying not to smile. “Yeah, yeah I came here for a shoulder to cry on, you jerk. I’m already gonna get roasted alive when I-when I tell Squints.” he finishes sombrely.  _

 

_ “You don’t need to tell anyone. ‘S not their business.” Benny feels a little giddy and sick, at the enormous opportunity presenting itself. The relief of having someone who knows.  _

 

_ “He’s my best friend. I want him to know. Even if-it doesn’t go so well.” _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah doesn’t want to go home and listen to any more of his mother’s crying or his father’s yelling, so they both sleep on the floor of Benny’s bedroom, surrounded by familiar baseball memorabilia.  _

 

_ “Yeah-Yeah?” Benny whispers, still lying awake, mind churning.  _

 

_ “Yeah, yeah?” Yeah-Yeah whispers back. _

 

_ Benny doesn’t know how the fuck to say any of this.“Uh...I know how you feel. You know?” he says, turning his head to look him in the face. _

 

_ Yeah-Yeah’s eyes widen “You’re-?” _

 

_ “Mm-hm”  _

 

_ They don’t break eye contact. Benny feels like he’s being x-rayed, every moment ever spent with Yeah-Yeah being reassessed, even though he knows they’re in the same, lonely boat. After a moment, Yeah-Yeah says “Thanks, Benny. You’re a real standup guy.” and closes his eyes. They sleep, not altogether peacefully, but a little quietly. _

 

***

 

The guys all get together on Yeah-Yeah’s last day to give him a proper sendoff. He was only going to be a forty minute car ride away in Pasadena, but to all of their car-less carcasses, he may as well be moving to another planet. 

 

The team meets at the sandlot, and it feels like too many things ending, Scotty thinks. Yeah-Yeah is the fourth gone from the team. Timmy and Tommy’s family had moved away two years ago, and Kenny’s had left for San Jose at the beginning of that summer. 

 

Scott tries to think positively. The team, city slickers through-and-through, had never swum in a lake before. “Cheer up, Smalls,” Benny thumps him on the back. Scott smiles a little.

  
  


Scott’s smile is long gone by the time they reach the lake.

 

Squints’ family often visited their friends out by lake McCreedy. Squints had assured them it would only take twenty minutes to bike to said lake. Squints was a dirty  _ liar _ , and Scotty tells him as much.

 

“Uuuuungh... “ Ham makes a long sound like a balloon losing its air as he walks his bike up the steep dirt road, his face a very interesting shade of purple. Scotty tells him that as well.

“You’re killing me, Smalls,” Ham gasps.

“Yeah, yeah, who’s idea was it to  _ bike  _ all the way to this fuckin’ lake?” Yeah-Yeah throws Squints a dirty look.

“Shut up, Yeah-yeah, so I forgot about one little hill. You guys are being pussies. Benny’s not complaining, he looks fine. It’s fine!” Squints looks to Benny for support. Benny wipes the sweat from his brow and glares at Squints.

 

One sweaty hour later, they all throw themselves into the cool, green relief of the lake.

 

At the lake, Bertram breaks out the booze. Benny shakes his head, but doesn’t refuse the beer. Scotty sticks to soda. At some point in the afternoon, he sees Yeah-Yeah drag Squints into the woods. They disappear for a good long while, and reappear silently, both looking uncomfortable.

 

Benny jogs over to the edge of the beach and says something to Yeah-Yeah, to Squints. There is a brief standoff, and then an exchange of fist-bumps. Squints and Yeah-Yeah still look tense, but they rejoin the party and act fine. Benny, too, finishes his beer and then cannonballs off the dock. 

 

Scotty wonders what they could have been fighting about, but Benny doesn’t elaborate. 

 

They spend a couple of hours essentially trying to drown each other in the lake, and it’s all a great time until Scott notices a slimy, black worm attached to his calf. A leech. 

 

They decide it’s about time to head back to civilization. They cap off the day with a game of baseball. They play and play and play, until night falls, and then play some more. Scotty hasn’t had anything to drink tonight, but he has the crazed, desperate feeling that when they stop, everything will. But eventually the guys, even Benny, are too unsteady and tired and giddy to continue. Scotty checks his watch. It’s almost one am. His mother is going to flip out but he can’t bring himself to care, yet. 

 

“Ok ladies, gather round!” Ham calls them all to center field, and they huddle in a loose-limbed, pushy circle.

 

Benny has the last bottle of beer in his hand, and makes a short toast to Yeah-Yeah. “We’re all gonna really miss you, Yeah-Yeah. Cheers.” he raises his bottle and downs the rest. Yeah-Yeah’s sober expression is lost in a pile of back slaps and hugs. He’s laughing and joshing around with the guys still, but his heart doesn’t seem to be in it anymore. 

 

The team disperses after that. 

 

Scotty shakes Yeah-Yeah’s hand. “Good luck, buddy.” Yeah-Yeah gives him a watery smile. 

“Thanks, Smalls.”

  
  


Scotty  and Benny are the last to leave the sandlot, waving goodbye to the others staggering home under the bright moon. They see Squints and Yeah-Yeah making their way down the street, laughing and shoving each other into trash cans like a couple of loons. Distantly, he hears Yeah-Yeah and Squints talking. “ _ Danny Phillips?!”  _ Squints screeches. Benny snorts and slows his pace considerably. 

 

“Give ‘em some privacy, eh?” he says, flipping his bat around. Scott nods.

 

The last thing he does hear is a yelp as Yeah-yeah pushes Squints into the gutter. “Jeezus, man, cool it, I won’t say another word.” Squints says from the ground.

 

“Yeah, yeah I told you we’re not talking about that, ya meathead,” Yeah-yeah mutters, helping Squints up. 

 

“Gonna miss you, man.” 

 

“Me too.” 

  
The rest of the conversation is lost as Scotty and Benny turn the corner  and make their way home


End file.
